Safety appliance for switches.



UNITED STATES PATENT CEEICE.

SAMUEL J. HARRIS, OF LAKE CITY, FLORIDA.v f

` SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR ys'ill/Ii-Cl-l'las.,

SPEGIFICATION forming' part Of LellerS Patent N0. 703,918, dated. July 1, 1902.l

Application filed May Z, 1902. Serial No. 1051626' (N0 111041610 To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL J. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lake City, in the county of Columbia and State of Florida, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances for Switches, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to safety appliances for switches, and is designed more particularly as an improvement upon the appliance constituting the subject-matter of my contemporary application, iiled January 14, 1902, Serial No. 89,769. Y Y o It consists in a certain peculiar construction, the novelty, utility, and advantages of which will berfully understood fromthefollowing descriptionandclaims when taken in conjunction 'with'V the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating my improved appliance as applied to a split switch; Fig. 2, an enlarged detail section taken on the broken line-2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a plan view illustrative of the base-plate, casing,A rod, rodguiding nut, and jam-nut of the'appliance; Fig. fl, a transverse section taken on the broken line f1 4 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 a transverse section Fig. 3.

Referring by letter to said drawings, Ais one rail ofv a main track; B C, the opposite rails thereof; D, one rail of a siding; E, the other siding-rail; F, one of the points of the switch; G, the other switch-point, which is arranged to be shifted against the rail B to render continuous one side of the main track; H,

a tie-bar connected to the switch-points, and I a connecting-rod designed to extend to a switch-stand. (Not shown.) These parts are preferably `of the ordinary well-known construction, with the exception that the point G has, by preference, asocket Gwattached to one side thereof.

J is the base-plate of my appliance, which is arranged on and connected to one of the sleepers or ties, and K is a cylinder connected to the base-plate in a position at right angles to the point G. The forward end of this cylinder-z'. e., its end adjacent to the point G-is open, and it has a smooth bore a, which extends from its said forward end to a point adjacent to its rear or outer end. At said rear taken on the broken line 5 5 of or outer end it is interiorly enlarged and threaded, as indicated by b, to receive an exteriorly-threaded nut Lwhich has'asmooth bore c, of less diameter than the cylinder-bore c, extending throughout its length. This nut snugly receivesk and guides a thrust-rod M and also aifords an outer bearing or abutment for a coiled spring N, preferably of steel, which surrounds said rod. By adjusting the nut L the tension of the spring may be readily regulated, and in order to prevent, casual movement or loosening of said nut under the pressure of the spring a jam-nut P is provided thereon, which jam-nut is designed to be set against the outer end of the cylinder K, as shown.

The .thrust-rod M has its forward end seat ed in the socket G ou the point G or is otherwise arranged to bear against said point and also has a collar d at an intermediate point of its length, snugly fitting and movable in the bore a of the cylinder. Being guided by the said collar d in the cylinder-bore a and its rear portion disposed in the bore of the nut L, the rodM'is free to move in the direction of its length without liability of binding, and hence with but a minimum'amount of friction. The spring N, interposed between the col- V4lar dand nut L, obviously tends at all times to thrust the rod Mk forwardly, and consequently the appliance will not only take up all lost motion in the working parts, so as to insure the point G lying tight against the rail B when the switch is set for a clear main track, and thereby prevent a sharp-flanged .wheel or a deranged truck from taking the siding, but will also press and hold the point against the rail Band insure an absolutely safe main track in the event of the switchstand being broken or the parts thereof becoming casually disconnected. `It will also be observed that byvirtue of the nut L,against which the spring bears at its outer end, the appliance may be adjusted 'to' throwany switch without the necessity ofy ripping up and moving the base-plate J or any of the rails.

While I prefer to use my improvements in conjunction with the kind of switch shown and described, I do not desire to be understood as confining myself to the same, as the improved appliance may housed to advantage in connection with any kind of switch to which it is applicable.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that my improved attachment is a simpliication of those extant and is susceptible of ready application to a switch-point as well as adjustment.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. The combination with a movable switchpoint; of the attachment comprising the cylinder disposed at an angle to the point, and

Ihaving the smooth bore in its forward portion, and its rear end interiorly threaded, an exteriorlythreaded nut arranged in said threaded end of the cylinder, and having a central smooth bore extending throughout its length, the thrust-rod formed of one piece and having its forward end arranged to press against the point, and its rear end guided in the smooth bore of the nut, and also having the collar at an intermediate point of its length snugly fitting in the smooth bore of the casing, and a coiled spring surrounding the rod within the casing, and interposed between the collar of the rod and the nut.

2. The combination with a movable switchpoint; of the attachment comprising the cylinder disposed at an angle to the point, and having the smooth bore in its forward portion, and its rear end interiorly enlarged and threaded,an eXteriorly-threaded nut arranged in said enlarged and threaded end of the cylinder, and having a central smooth bore eX- tending throughout its length, a jam-nut mounted on the eXteriorly-threaded nut and arranged to bear against the cylinder, the

thrust-rod formed of one piece and having" SAMUEL J. HARRIS.

Witnesses:

A. B. SMALL, H. H. SMALL. 

